


Getting along

by TwurtleEggy



Series: Ori, but a little to the left [3]
Category: Ori and the Blind Forest
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anxiety, Gen, Kuro and Sein don't want to be friends, Kuro and her kids don't die, Ori doesn't give them a choice, Protectiveness, Spoilers, they only almost die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23472148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwurtleEggy/pseuds/TwurtleEggy
Summary: Ori is babysitting for Kuro, and Sein joins in.
Relationships: Everyone & Ori (Ori and the Blind Forest), Sein & Kuro (Ori and the Blind Forest), Sein & Kuro's Kids (Ori and the Blind Forest)
Series: Ori, but a little to the left [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709002
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Think of the children.

When Ori had said that Kuro had asked him to babysit her kids, Sein had been quick to offer to help. When he asked why, they said that they wanted to try and get along better with Kuro. Though this answer made him happy, it wasn't entirely the truth, as they still didn't particularly trust Kuro, and wanted to make sure that she didn't try to do anything to Ori. However, once they were actually making the journey to Kuro's nest, Sein realized that they had forgotten to ask _why_ Kuro needed a babysitter in the first place.

"Oh," Ori hummed out when they asked, his face scrunching up while he thought. "She apparently found an area that she thinks might work as a good backup hunting grounds, and she wants to be able to devote her attention to scouting it out. She can't do that and focus on making sure her kids don't make a mess though, so she asked me to babysit for her." A concerned expression suddenly fell on his face. "I hope she doesn't mind that you'll be there. I think you and me babysitting her kids might help to get her to trust you more, but there was no time for me to tell her I would be bringing you."

Sein tried their best to give off the best aura of confidence they could, hoping that Ori would feel it and be a little more confident himself once he realized that Sein wasn't scared. "Don't worry Ori, I'm sure everything will be fine." And even if something went wrong, they would protect him. The guardian gave a small smile to them, returning to a comfortable silence, allowing the sounds of their surroundings to fill the void of their conversation.

Once they reached Kuro's nest, Sein soon found that their suspicions on Kuro were quickly proven incorrect, as the large owl seemed genuinely happy to see Ori, though her expression notably soured when she saw them. "Sein," she said. "I was not aware you would be here." The light moved slightly closer to Ori on reflex, though their movements served only to bring Kuro's displeasure on Ori, which they had been trying to avoid. "Ori, why are _they_ here? I don't recall ever asking for you to bring them." Sein tried their best to convey their displeasure at her aggressive questioning, though, being a faceless orb, they failed quite miserably.

"Ah, sorry about that Kuro," Ori said. "I told Sein I was coming to babysit for you, and they asked to come along. There wasn't really any time to say anything, I'm really sorry." The sincerity in the guardian's apology caused Kuro to relent a bit, though she still kept an eye on the ball of light. Ever since the... _incident,_ she had been extremely wary of beings of light, and Ori was the only one she truly trusted.

"Very well. Just make sure they don't hurt my children." Sein made a sound that vaguely resembled an indignant squeak at Kuro's accusation. They knew that the owl didn't trust them, but that was just unnecessary. They hadn't meant to hurt Kuro's children, and she _knew that,_ so why was she acting like they had done it on purpose? Did she not really believe them when they had explained what had happened, and only spared them because she felt remorse for Ori's mother? Had she really just spared them in order to wait for a more opportune moment to kill them both then eat Ori then plunge the forest into darkness and-

No. Sein stopped for a moment, breathed in, and breathed out. They might not trust Kuro, but they knew she wasn't some horrible demon hell bent on destroying the forest. For one, Kuro hadn't exactly been emotionally stable when she ravaged the forest, yet she seemed to have gotten much better with Ori's help and the recovery of her children. For two, destroying the forest probably wouldn't be good for said children, who she was now bringing them to.

"Alright you three, come here!" Kuro called. Upon hearing their mother, the owlets quickly crowded up to her, looking warily at the two newcomers. "This is Ori and Sein," the owl explained. "They will be babysitting you for the day while I am away." This statement was received poorly by the children, who were apparently unaware that they were going to be in someone else's care. Ori approached the children warily, wanting to leave a good first impression.

"Hey kids, my name is Ori," he said with the most friendly, inviting tone of voice he could muster. Unfortunately, his words seemed to have no effect on the children, and they simply glared at him. "Um... is there any reason you guys are so upset?" he asked. He had a guess as to why, but he really hoped he was wrong.

The owlet on the left let out a screech. "You hurt our mama and us! Why should we trust you!" The other two owlets nodded quickly in agreement, while Kuro gave a quiet sigh. Of course her children would still think that the two had hurt her intentionally, despite the many times Kuro had told them otherwise. She figured that it probably didn't help that _Sein_ was here. That stupid light was probably drumming up bad memories about... that night.

"Children, please, I already told you that what happened was an accident. Neither of them meant to hurt anyone." It was true, of course, but a sinister part of Kuro couldn't help but think that the dumb light never did anything on accident. She ignored that part of her, remembering what had happened when she had listened to the accursed thing.

"She's telling the truth," Sein said, trying to put as much kindness into their voice as they could. "We never meant to hurt anyone. Both times were just concerned parents doing what they thought was necessary to protect their kids." The children looked at the orb with suspicion, but a light smile from their mother along with her words brought them to at least believe Sein a little.

"Anyways," Kuro piped up, catching the other's attention. "Let's quickly get introductions over with. This," she said, motioning to the owlet that had spoken, "is Tok. As you can tell, he's rather feisty, so try to be careful." The owlet let out several small screeches of indignation at his mothers words, but all they did was make her chuckle and his siblings laugh at him. "This is Turna," Kuro stated, motioning to the owlet in the middle. "And he is a very polite young owl. You shouldn't have much trouble with him." The little owlet stood a bit taller at his mother's words of praise, glad that she thought so highly of him. "And finally, we have Tengma," Kuro said, partially wrapping her wing around the owlet on the right. "She's the oldest of these three, no matter what Tok says. She's mostly polite, but she can be a little sneaky." The young owlet had a smug grin on her face, reminding Sein of Ori.

"And that's an egg," Ori said, pointing at the only one of the siblings that had yet to hatch. The egg, naturally, didn't respond, though the three owlets gave a small snicker.

"Yes, Ori, that is indeed an egg," Sein said with the verbal equivalent of an eye roll in their voice. "Much like you."

While Ori stuck his tongue out at Sein, Kuro quickly scanned the nest to make sure everything was in order. "Alright then," she stated with an air of finality. "You three just had breakfast, so make sure you eat something around noon. Behave yourselves and listen to Ori, I'll be back in time to get you dinner." The three owlets nodded at their mother's words, though Sein had a sneaking suspicion that at least one of them was almost certainly going to do something. They also noticed that Kuro had only said to listen to Ori, and they were positive that the owlets had noticed as well. That was irritating, though a part of them was more hurt by Kuro's lack of trust in them than they were necessarily ready to admit.

With the end of Kuro's speech, she set off for her destination, quickly vanishing among the cliffs. The owlets and Sein stood and floated around awkwardly, not quite sure just what to do, or what to really make of each other, now that the primary mediator was gone. The air of uncertainty was quickly remedied by Ori clapping his hands, grabbing the attention of the four.

"Alright," the guardian happily said. "Who wants to play some games?"


	2. Tok Roks

At Ori's insistence, the five tried to come up with some sort of game to play. As time went on, however, they failed to come up with something they could all reasonably play.

"How about tag?" Sein suggested. It was a fine idea, with one glaring issue.

"Can Ori fly?" Tok asked with a tilt of his head, turning to look at the spirit guardian. He was curious how the wingless... whatever Ori was... would be able to stay in the air long enough to keep up with the rest of them. Still, he didn't know how Sein was staying afloat, so maybe Ori could do something similar.

Ori gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "No, I'm afraid I can't," he said. "I could just stay back and watch while you four play, though. You know, just so someone is keeping an eye on everyone." To the guardian, it made sense. Considering that he was the only one unable to fly, it made sense that they would end up doing something that couldn't reasonably include him. Besides, he was probably the quickest of them all, so he could get to one of the others fastest if something went wrong.

"No." Sein declared plainly. "If anyone is going to just be watching, it'll be me. I can get the best view of everything, and keep everyone out of danger." Yeah, a small part of them piped up, and that means no one can blame you for staring at Ori. They mentally shoved that small part of themself.

While the two started to lightly bicker on which of them would be better at keeping an eye on the children, an idea suddenly popped into Tengma's head. "Hey, I have a game! One of us just asks a question, and everyone else has to answer honestly. If you don't answer, then you're out."

When Ori and Sein turned to the children, it was to see Tok rapidly nodding and a light smile on Turna's beak. All three of the owlets seemed to like the idea. Sein turned to Ori with a questioning tilt, only to receive a small shrug and a smile in response. With an internal sigh, Sein resigned themselves to the fate that they knew was coming for them. There was no way this could possibly end without embarrassing them. "And I assume that you'll go first, Tengma?"

"Yep!" she said. "First question: What's the best tasting thing you've ever eaten?"

"WORMS!" Tok and Turna shouted at the same time, inciting a round of laughter from the other three. 

Sein was next to speak. "Unfortunately, I do not and can not eat, so I don't really have an answer." This brought a quiet grumble from Tengma, who was upset that someone had gotten away with not giving a good answer. "I'm sorry that I can't give you a proper answer Tengma. There is a certain kind of fruit called Lumin berries which I think are very pretty though, so I suppose that's the closest answer I can give you." Tengma was still unsatisfied with their answer, but seemed slightly happier that they had at least gotten something out of them.

"There's a kind of berry that grows on trees in Swallow's Nest," Ori began. "I don't know if it has a name, but I know they taste really sweet. I'll bring some over once I get the chance." This answer seemed to make Tengma happier than the other two answers-which made sense, really, seeing as how one wasn't really an answer, and she already knew the other one. Plus, she got promised free food!

"Alright, now it's Turna's turn!" Tengma cheered happily. The owlets' moods seemed to improved drastically now that they were doing something fun, and Sein and Ori desperately hoped that it would stay that way.

"Okay everyone, what's the coolest thing you've ever seen?" Turna asked. He had overheard some conversations about their temporary caretakers while exploring the forest, and he hoped they would tell them about one of their adventures. Plus, he had a guess about what his brother's answer would be, and he hoped that Ori and Sein would think a little higher of his brother if they saw what he had to show.

"I'll start," Tengma said. "One time, I saw a bunch of fish jump out of a river one after another, like they were taking turns. It was late in the afternoon and the fish were really dark, so it looked like some kind of cut straight trough the river." The others sat around for a moment, imagining what Tengma must have seen. After a bit, Ori spoke up.

"The coolest thing I've ever seen was the first time we met you three's mom. She was sitting with her head down and it was dark out, and she's so big that she looked like a hill." Ori took a breath before speaking again. "She just lifted her head up, shot up into the sky, and came down right in front of us." The guardian gave a weak, quiet laugh and looked down. "It was absolutely terrifying, but it definitely left a strong impression." He looked back up, and saw the owlets listening intently with minor shock on their faces. They had never heard someone else describe meeting their mother before, and though they knew that she was an imposing figure, they didn't think she was nearly _that_ threatening. Ori gave a quiet laugh. "She isn't nearly as scary now. She's still big and imposing, but she's a lot more gentle. It just goes to show how much she cares about you three."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes after that, letting Ori's words sink in. The quiet wasn't necessarily uncomfortable-they already all _knew_ Kuro was remarkably imposing, and that translated well into sheer terror when Kuro became enraged. The owlets hadn't been aware, however, of just what sort of impression she left on those that she thought would be a threat to them.

Sein let out a quiet humming sound. "I guess I'll go now. The coolest thing I saw was Ori escaping the Ginso Tree, right before we first met Kuro." This managed to grab the attention of the owlets, who desperately wanted to hear what could have possibly left more of an impression on Sein then their mother. "We had just cleansed the tree of a sort of poison. Afterwards, the water from the tree started to pour out, but it was much more powerful than we expected. The tree started to flood with water, and Ori had to climb along the slippery tree walls while corrupted creatures tried to attack him from all sides, and the water from below destroyed everything in its' path. I wasn't even the one doing all the hard work, and I was terrified." The children turned to Ori with looks of awe on their faces. The spirit guardian suddenly seemed incredible to them. How could he possibly have survived that?

Ori laughed sheepishly, an embarrassed blush on his face. "Come on Sein, I guess it was cool, but we shouldn't make these kids think that that's the sort of situation that they should be actively trying to get into." He didn't know why Sein was acting like he was so impressive, but he didn't want the owlets to get it in their heads that he was a role model. He tried his best to be good, but he got into danger way too often. He didn't want the kids to go looking for the same dangers.

"It'll be okay Mr. Ori!" Tok exclaimed. "We know your adventures were dangerous, and we'll leave the adventuring to the grown ups, but Sein is right, you sound really cool!" His siblings nodded along to his words, agreeing wholeheartedly with him.

"See, Ori? It's okay to talk about what happened," Sein said in a calming voice. "Just because you talk about it doesn't mean everyone's going to start copying you. It's okay to be proud of the incredible things you've done." 

"Alright, alright," Ori said. "Can we move on? Tok still needs to say his thing." At his words, Tok's face lit up so bright that the others couldn't help but smile too. He quickly ran off into a small corner of the nest, telling them to wait a little. He came back dragging what seemed to be a large, heavy sack. He emptied it, revealing that it was filled with various small rocks.

"This is my rock collection, the coolest thing I've ever gotten to see!" The owlet squeaked out. He was clearly _very_ proud of his work. "I've been gathering them practically since I could walk! They're mostly just from the area near the nest, and I don't get to collect them often since mom always wants to watch me so I don't fall and get hurt." The owlet puffed out his chest. "Which is dumb, by the way, because I'm not a baby anymore, and I can take care of myself." Despite the restrictions that were apparently on him, Tok had several different varieties of rocks in his collection, which easily numbered at least 40 rocks. They varied in color, including the typical everyday gray, white, and light brown rocks, but also including some less common colors, such as various red rocks, a couple of pale green rocks, and one rock that seemed to be a light blue, and even glowed a bit. When Sein asked about the blue rock, Tok's smile seemed to grow.

"That one is from a river down in the forest! Mom found it for me, she said that she saw it when she was hunting, and figured I would probably like it. She thinks it might have a little magic in it!" The final comment in particular grabbed Sein's interest and refused to let go.

"If Kuro really thinks the rock may have magic in it, then she must really trust you. Magic other than light magic and dark magic is incredibly uncommon in Nibel. Something with water magic can be incredibly useful in a drought, especially considering how high up you are." Sein's statement on how much Kuro must trust him caused Tok to give a happy cheer, which Turna and Tengma joined in on. Sein looked to Ori, who had a large smile on his face, glad that the children were enjoying themselves.

_This is nice,_ they thought to themself. _I can be happy with this._ And yet, despite their happiness, a small part of Sein couldn't help but insist that they weren't doing enough, that they needed to be saying more, that they had to do _something_ _,_ yet neither the small part nor Sein themself could figure out quite what it was they so desperately needed or needed to do. As such, they chose to simply put it to the side and enjoy themself. And all the smiles in the room only made that easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That bit about magic in Nibel will be expanded on more in the next chapter, I just wanted to mention it now because, well, it didn't really make sense that the only magic we see in game is light magic like the light burst and whatever the corruption was. I suppose that the Gumon could be argued as using magic, but what they did seems more like really advanced technology to me.


	3. Lessons on magic, thoughts on happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sein teaches the owlets about magic, but ends up getting lost in their own thoughts.

"Hey Sein?" Tok asked, drawing their attention. "Can you teach us more about magic?"

The orb let out a quiet hum. It was slightly past noon, and the children were eating lunch(Sein didn't understand how worms could be appealing to anyone, but to each their own, they figured), and Ori was down in the forest getting some berries for the owlets at their request. There was still plenty of time left until Kuro would be scheduled to return, and they had finished the game they were playing. Additionally, a lesson on magic could help the children learn more about themselves and the world around them. After a bit of deliberation, Sein failed to find anything wrong with the request.

"I suppose a small lesson couldn't hurt," they said, causing the owlet to give a happy cheer. He went over to Turna and Tengma, and soon brought them over after a short explanation of what they would be doing. "Alright then, is there any specific sort of magic you want me to tell you about?" The owlets looked among each other, seemingly having an entire conversation with nothing but facial expressions.

After a moment of near silence, the three seemed to come to an agreement. "Can you tell us about what magic our mom uses?" Turna asked. "We've never seen her use any, but we're pretty sure she must have at least _some._ " 

Sein let out another quiet hum. That was... actually a good point. _Did_ Kuro have magic? Sure, she could be incredibly sneaky despite her massive size, but that could usually be attributed to her dark coloring. In fact, now that Sein was thinking about it, it seemed increasingly unlikely that Kuro actually had any magic at all. For a while, they had figured that Kuro must have some sort of magic, seeing as she had managed to kill nearly every single spirit guardian. But really... what could the guardians have even really done to her? The majority of them had next to no experience with complex magic themselves, and probably couldn't summon anything more powerful than a light burst. Not to mention, Kuro was absolutely _massive,_ and was shockingly quick as well, so she had probably just used the element of surprise to eat most of them whole before they even realized she was there. Though... thinking on Kuro's incredible speed, they realized that that was one thing they couldn't really explain with anything other than magic.

"Well," the small light began. "I'm not _entirely_ positive if your mother has any magic, but I _think_ she at least has experience with wind magic, so let's start there. Wind magic is primarily used to move things around-including it's user. I think Kuro uses it to make herself speed up extremely fast. We encountered her near Sorrow Pass, and she would shoot at us if she ever saw us, but she seemed to go from not moving to top speed in an instant, so I figure that she must have some decently strong wind magic." Sein stopped for a moment to collect their thoughts and let the kids absorb what they had said. They seemed to be understanding it remarkably well, at least when compared to how much Ori seemed to understand it.

"I also think Kuro may have some minor darkness magic, but I'm a lot less sure of that. Darkness magic is usually used for stealth, and I think Kuro may have used it to ambush us at the Ginso Tree. Darkness magic also has some use for creating barriers and attacks, but it's pretty limited." The owlets seemed much more interested in the darkness magic than the wind magic, which made sense to Sein. The three were creatures of darkness, so they would probably have a very easy time grasping the basics of their inherent magic.

"What magic can you and Ori do?" Tok questioned. "We know you guys can use light magic, but wouldn't Ori's second jump thing be wind magic?"

"Yes, it is," Sein explained. "As for what other magic we have, I think I'll wait for Ori to get here so I can ask if he's okay with me talking about the magic he uses." This brought a round of groans from the owlets, but Sein just ignored them. "As for what magic I can use, I can only use light magic. Light magic is mostly used for short-range attacks with a small amount of use in barriers." The owlets seemed satisfied with their answer, but they did back up a little bit. Sein realized with a pang of guilt that the three were scared of them, and were trying to make sure they were outside of the short range Sein had mentioned. It seemed to them that, no matter what they did, they would never be able to fix the damage that that night had caused to the owlets' trust of the light.

There was a sudden sound from behind them, and Sein turned around to find that Ori had finally returned, with an armful of berries. "Heya kids, I'm back!" He shouted, and they all seemed to at least perk up a little bit, and even more once they realized that he had made good on his promise to bring up some food. The three quickly surrounded him, taking a few berries each from his arms. As this happened, Sein watched them curiously. They seemed so much more comfortable around Ori, even though they were pretty sure that the three knew that Ori could use light magic. If that was the case, then why were they scared of Sein, but not him? "Hey, Ori?" the orb said, grabbing the spirit guardian's attention. "Tok, Turna, and Tengma were wondering what kind of magic you can use. Is it okay if I tell them?" He gave her a wide smile and a nod, along with a sound that sounded vaguely like a conformation, not that it was particularly easy to tell around the berries Ori was eating.

They really needed to teach him some manners.

At any rate, his consent was all they really needed. The owlets had returned their attention to Sein when they heard them talking to Ori, and were now staring at them expectantly. "Alright, so, as you probably guessed, Ori has control over wind magic and light magic. There is also one other thing about his magic to note, however-since Ori was raised so far from the Spirit Tree and any other Spirit Guardians, his light didn't properly develop, so he's able to absorb other spirits' light with much less difficulty or harm to himself than usual. Typically, a Spirit Guardian will be left exhausted after absorbing another perished spirit's light, and trying to absorb a second spirit's light is usually lethal. Since Ori has so much less light than he's supposed to, however, he's able to absorb other's light with next to no complications, though absorbing a bunch of spirits soon after each other is still tiring to him, and can leave him ill. If he waits a couple of days between each absorption, though, he'll be fine." 

Sein stopped for a moment like earlier, in order to prepare themself to list off all of Ori's abilities, though their preparations were cut off by said guardian coming over and giving them a small hug. "Thanks Sein, I really don't think I could have explained all that nearly that well." The appreciation was clear in his voice, and they felt a swell of happiness within themself at his praise. "If you want, I can give them the more detailed explanation, alright? I know you have trouble remembering them all." A second surge of happiness. They really didn't deserve him, no matter how much a small part of them screamed that they really did deserve him, that they _deserved_ friends and happiness. They had a purpose-to help with keeping peace in Nibel-and they had failed in that purpose, and then needed help to fix their failures. They needed to do more before they deserved to be close to someone as nice as Ori. How could they have forgotten that?

"Alright, kiddos," Ori started, releasing Sein. "Let's get started, yeah?" His words were met with a round of affirmatives, which brought a smile to his face. "First off, I can summon small balls of light, which explode when they touch certain things."

"Can you show us, please, please?" Tok said, excitement clear in the eyes of him and his siblings.

Ori let out some quiet laughter. "No, I don't wanna risk it going off and hurting one of you guys. Kuro trusted us to watch you all, and I don't intend to break that trust." There was a small round of sad noises from all the owlets, but they seemed to understand well enough, so Ori continued. "I can jump twice in the air, and I can sort of throw myself forward really quickly in something similar to a dash of sorts. I can grab onto things and throw myself off of them, which can change the direction they're moving. I'm able to throw my body downward really hard, which can let me break weak rocks, and I'm able to make my jumps way stronger, so I go farther with a lot more force, and I can jump off and climb any wall easily. Pretty much everything else magical I can do is actually Sein's doing." He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. "So, any questions?" The owlets all started asking questions at once, overwhelming him quickly. "Alright, alright, calm down, calm down."

While Ori tried to answer all of the kids' questions, Sein floated a bit off to the side, thinking. They noticed that he hadn't mentioned the Soul Link, and they both knew that that was Ori's own magic, not their's. So, _why?_ Why would he not bring it up? It was certainly important, there was no way that the two of them could have possibly saved Nibel without it, so why would he not bring it up?

Their silence did not go unnoticed, as Ori had been expecting for Sein to bring up his omission of the Soul Link, and he found their quiet concerning. He quickly got the kids to go back to their berries, explaining that he had to talk to Sein about something. As he approached his friend, however, it seemed like they didn't even notice him. "Hey, Sein, is everything okay?"

"Hm?" the orb said, being drawn out of their thoughts. "Oh, yes, sorry. By the way, why did you not mention the Soul Link? It's pretty important, right?" They received a shrug in return.

"I just didn't want to ruin the moment. They seemed so happy, and I didn't want something so depressing to ruin that happiness." Sein gave a hum of understanding, though Ori wasn't quite done yet. "I noticed that you seem... kind of upset. Is everything okay?"

Sein took a moment to try and compose themself, but all it seemed to do was make them shake and their voice waver and hesitate slightly. "I'm... fine, Ori. I just think you should probably be spending more time with the owlets, since they're the reason we're here." Spend time with those who deserve your happiness, unlike me, they thought to themself. Ori didn't move, though.

"Come on Sein, we've known each other for a while, I can tell when you're lying. Please, just be honest." The sheer sadness in his eyes almost crushed Sein's resolve on the spot, but they barely managed to hang on.

"I... later, Ori, please? When we leave, I promise I'll tell you, I just need some time to think right now." Unfortunately, Ori still refused to budge. "Look, I just... I'm scared, okay?" At his confused expression, they continued. "I just don't... I don't feel like I deserve your friendship." Ori seemed shocked, but they continued regardless. "I just-I feel like I haven't done enough. I was supposed to be responsible for helping to keep Nibel peaceful. I failed, and so many innocents died, and I don't feel like-I don't deserve your happiness, Ori. I don't deserve your _happiness, or your friendship, or how much you care, or_ -" and they were cut off from their panic by two warm arms wrapping around them. 

"Please, Sein, calm down," Ori said. "I know you feel awful about what happened, but please, just... know that you _do_ deserve to be happy." He broke the hug, but instead sat down and placed them in his lap, still keeping one hand lightly on them. "I know that you might doubt it, but you really do deserve to be happy. I know that you maybe feel like you need to cut yourself off from everyone else, but please, if you ever feel like this again, please just know that you can talk to me, alright?" Sein gave a quiet affirmative, though this didn't seem to be good enough for Ori. "I'm being serious Sein, you know? I honest, swear on my life, care about you, and it makes me said that you don't seem to think you deserve it." This final statement managed to break Sein out of their quiet, as they we're startled to attention.

"Wh-Ori, no please, don't be sad, I don't-I'm not-I just, I..." Noticing that his friend was starting to fall back into their panic, Ori quickly took action.

"Breathe, Sein, okay? Just try and ground yourself for a minute, and try to let yourself relax, okay?" Following his prompting, Sein eventually managed to calm down to a more manageable point. "You better now? We don't have to right now, but I would like to talk about this at some point, okay? For now, I just want you to know that, I really care about you, alright? I want you to feel happy, and I want you to know that you deserve to be happy, alright?"

Sein was quiet for a moment before responding. "...Alright, Ori. Thank you a lot for that, I really appreciate it." He gave them a large smile, and they felt themself warm up a little bit once again. 

"Um... hello?"

Ori and Sein both practically had heart attacks as they looked up and around, only to find that the three owlets had approached them while they were busy. "Oh, hey, are you three alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry, we're fine," Tok said.

"But you guys should work on talking quieter, we heard everything you said!" Tengma said proudly, not noticing the panic that seemed to befall the two.

Unlike his siblings, Turna was much more sympathetic to the two. "Are... you guys alright? We weren't being bad, right?" His question was met with a quick shake of Ori's head, and Sein floating slightly higher up.

"Don't worry, Turna. I just wasn't feeling too great, and Ori was worried about me, but everything is going to get better, okay?" The owlet gave a squeal of conformation, and Sein responded with a hum of happiness.

Nothing was perfect, they thought to themself. And things probably weren't ever going to be perfect.

But they can get better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Sein


	4. Look around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you just have to slow down a bit and let the world move on its own.

It was getting late, and Kuro was satisfied.

The area she had found had not proven to be as good for hunting as she had hoped it would, but it would be serviceable in an emergency. Plus, that was just a little more of the forest that she knew about now, and it felt good to notice her own emotional progress.

Just a few months prior, she would not have felt nearly the same way about the day's findings as she did now. Still lost in her rage then, she would have been absolutely furious, would have lain waste to what she would have perceived as yet another failure of the Spirit Tree, only driving herself further into the twisted cloud of rage and misery. After all, she would have likely reasoned, it was supposedly the Spirit Tree's forest, was it not? How _dare_ the wretched thing not provide for all of the denizens of its domain, it was now even more deserving of her wrath. Oh, how wrong she had been.

She let out a quiet sigh, and tried to move her thoughts to a happier subject. Dwelling on the past would only bring her more pain, she had to face forward and improve herself, make up for what she had done yet still make sure she did not beat herself up for things that had not even happened, or had been outside of her control. Or, at least, that was what Naru had told her. Kuro trusted her new friend's words, though-they had proven helpful thus far, they had no reason to suddenly fail for no discernible reason.

As she turned her mind from less helpful thoughts, Kuro found that she arrived at a much easier topic: her children. Ah, how she missed them, after not even a full day! She could only hope that Ori and Sein were doing a good job of keeping them happy, as she had no doubt that the two could easily protect her precious babies from practically any foe that would try and harm them.

She remained upon the thoughts of her children while she flew back to her nest, considering what they could have possibly gotten up to while she was away. She found that the answer was quite to her liking once she approached her nest, as she arrived to one of the most precious scenes she had ever gained the pleasure of witnessing. There, in front of her, was what appeared to be a small mass of black and purple, with Ori and Sein slightly to the side of the mass.

"Hello Ori," Kuro greeted the guardian as she descended. "You wouldn't happen to know what happened to my children, would you?"

"Oh, Kuro," Ori began, clearly fake distress in his voice. "You'll never believe it. Sein, please explain, I can't bear to tell the story." The orb seemed to turn to him in what Kuro could only describe as an incredulous manner, before being poked by the guardian. They let out a small yelp, then turned to Kuro and began speaking.

"Kuro, it was awful. We turned away for just a moment, and when we turned back, the most horrible of curses seemed to have befallen them!" There was a clear giggle and slight motion from the mound, before it was quickly shushed.

A grin spread itself along the giant owl's face. "Well then, I suppose that means they can't have any dinner." The mound exploded into movement, as all three owlets quickly turned to their mother, panic on their faces and denials on their beaks. Kuro let out a long, soft laugh; she had missed moments like this.

Sein gave a quiet, blatantly fake gasp. "Oh, it would seem as if the curse has been lifted! It's a miracle!" 

At this point, Ori had been practically reduced to tears. "See, kids, I told you they could work together!" Kuro cocked her head in Ori's direction at his declaration, while Sein practically whirled around, a panicked question of what he was talking about on their voice. "I'm sorry Sein, I'm just teasing you."

"Oh, and you're _not_ teasing me? Why, Ori, I have half a mind to be insulted!" The spirit guardian snickered, sticking his tongue out at her. Kuro let out a gasp of false shock. "Why, I never! Kids, get that punk!" At their mother's command, the three owlets tackled Ori to the ground, dragging a startled yelp out of him. Confident that her children and Ori were distracted, Kuro turned to Sein, a small bit of her happiness fading. "I take it they enjoyed themselves?"

Sein gave a sigh that caused Kuro to wince slightly. She hoped she hadn't used to harsh of a tone. "They had plenty of fun, and they ate around noon, like you said to. I gave them a bit of a lesson on magic, at Tok's request." This piqued Kuro's curiosity, as she had not been aware that her children had any interest in magic. "I... also had a slight emotional breakdown in front of them. Ori and I explained it to them as me just not feeling very good, and I think they already forgot about it." Now Kuro was definitely interested. Ori had told her about Sein's problem with doubting themself before, but she had never thought her children would end up seeing said problem. 

"Well, I certainly wouldn't hope that they forget. You're rather strong Sein, it would be nice for my children to know that it's okay to not always feel good." She hoped that didn't sound forced. It was genuine, but she figured she would still have some difficulty complementing the light.

Sein hesitated for a moment. "Well... thank you, Kuro," the light began. "I really appreciate it, honestly. And thank you for not getting mad at me for coming unannounced."

"I'm simply glad that everything turned out alright." She said. Truly, she was. She had considered simply dismissing Sein earlier in the day when they had arrived, yet she feared that Ori may chose to follow the light, so she decided to give them a chance. She was indescribably glad her perceived bargain had paid off.

"Awww!" All of a sudden, Sein was scooped up, and both they and the voice's owner suddenly slammed into Kuro. Luckily, she didn't fall over, due to her sheer size and the lack of actual force behind the sudden contact. Looking down, she saw that Ori had escaped her children, and was now snuggling into both her and Sein at the same time. "I'm so glad you two are getting along! I was afraid I was gonna have to force you to kiss and make up!" All of a sudden, an incredibly sneaky idea formed into Kuro's head, causing a smirk to cross her face.

"Now, Ori, though we've already done the making up part, that doesn't mean we can't still kiss." At the panicked noises Sein and the owlets began to make, Kuro threw her head up and laughed. "I'm joking, I'm joking! Besides, Sein is far to small." This quickly calmed them all down, and Kuro moved on to the next topic. "How is the egg doing, by the way?"

Ori quickly dashed over to said egg, splaying his hands out in front of it. "The egg is still an egg."

"Yes, Ori, we can see that," Sein said with a sigh. This earned them another tackle from Ori, with Tok, Turna, and Tengma joining him in short order.

Kuro looked down on the ridiculous scene before her, a content smile upon her face. After a while, however, she took pity on the light. "Alright, alright, get off them. It's getting late, you three need to eat dinner, and Ori and Sein need to get home."

Tok and Tengma whined about the two having to leave, but farewells were eventually exchanged, with the promise that the light orb and the spirit guardian would return soon. The owlets quickly ate dinner, and after a bit more playing, were put to bed. As Kuro looked out at the moon in its dark sky, her thoughts wandered. She thought of how much had changed, how her family had changed, how _she_ had changed, how the forest had changed.

Even though so much was different, her thoughts strayed little as she watched a faint light far below weave through the forest. Happiness had returned to the forest, and she could only hope that this time, they could all do better to keep it around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of this story. Sorry this final chapter took a little longer than the first three, I couldn't quite decide what i wanted it to be, but I do personally like how it turned out.


End file.
